Decoy duck



N0 11, 3947., H WLLS ET AL I 2,430,645

DECOY DUCK Filed'Nov. 15, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 claim 11 M 2716' Nw m194-7.

J. H. MlLLS ET AL v DECOY DUCK Filed Nov 15, 1945 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Inventors obem l}. Tanner el Patented Nov. 11, 1947 UNITED sTATEs PATENTOFFICE DECOY DUCK John H. Mills and Robert L. Tanner, Jr.,

Rockport, Tex.

Application November 15, 1945 Serial No. 628,726

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to improvements in decoy ducks, the primary objectin view being to provide an inexpensive, efiicient decoy in the form ofa duck quipped with an anchor line and with counterbalance means forstabilizing the same in the water against rolling and pitching, andwhich is particularly designed for storing away Within the body of thedecoy all of the other parts to thereby form a compact, readily portablearticle with the stored parts readily available for use.

Other and subordinate objects also comprehended by our invention,together with the precise nature of our improvements and the manifoldadvantages thereof, will become readily apparent when the succeedingdescription and claims are read with reference to the drawingsaccompanying and forming a part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of our improved decoy duck in a'preferred embodiment thereof,

Figure 2 is a view in bottom plan, with the stabilizer member and keeperswung into the cavity in the body,

Figure 3 is a detail view in side elevation of the combined head andneck part with a part ofbiihe anchor cable and the expander on said cae,

Figure 4 is a detail View in side elevation of the anchor,

Figure 5 is a similar view of the expander,

Figure 6 is a view in longitudinal section of the decoy duck showing themanner in which the parts are stored,

Figure 7 is a view in bottom plan of the decoy duck with the partsstored, and

Figure 8 is a detail view of a modification of one of the parts of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, our improved decoy duck, asshown, comprises a body I, of the usual shape, and a separate combinedhead and neck part 2. The body I is provided, in the bottom thereof,with a storage cavity 3, preferably oval in shape, with rearwardlytapering side walls 4, and which is centered in the median plane of thebody I in the rear of the combined head and neck part 2. The rear end ofthe storage cavity 3 is stepped to form a shallow recess 5 providing astop for a purpose presently seen. At the front end of the storagecavity 3, a seat 6 is formed in the bottom of the body I, around avertical through bore I in said body. At the upper end of the bore 1 afiat, concentric seat 8 is formed on the body I around said bore 1 forthe head and neck part 2. The head and neck part 8 embodies a neckportion 9 fiat bottomed to engage the seat 8. An anchor cable I0,preferably rope, has one end suitably socketed in and fastened to saidneck portion 9. The anchor cable I0 is extended through the bore 1 andseat 6 and has fastened to the other end thereof a weight-type anchorEI. The anchor II embodies a short shank I2 adapted to slidably fit inthe bore 1, a fiat faced circular head I3 adapted to fit into seat 6,and an end eye I4 through which the anchor cable Ill is looped, as atI5. The anchor cable It is adapted to slide freely through the bore I.

An expander -I6 is provided on the anchor cableIIl for insertion intothe bore I to maintain the neck portion 9 seated on the seat 8 byfrictionally retaining in the bore 1 the end of the anchor cable H] towhich the head and neck part 2 is attached. The expander I6 comprises asleeve I'l crimped around the anchor cable ID with resilient wirefingers I8 extending therefrom along said anchor cable and frictionallyfitting in said bore 1.

I As will be seen, by pulling the expander I6 into the bore 1 from thetop of the body I, the head and neck part 2 may be seated on the seat 8.By pulling on the head and neck part 2, the expander I6 may be pulledupwardly out of said bore 7 and the anchor cable I0 pulled through saidbore 1 until the shank I2 of the anchor ii is slid into said bore 1 withthe head I3 en gaged in the seat 6. The anchor cable It may then bepassed rearwardly over one side of the body I and coiled and stored inthe cavity 3, together with the neck and head part 2 and the expanderII, all as shown in Figures 6 and 7.

A V-shaped stabilizer I9 is swingably mounted in the sides 4 of thecavity 3 by means of rightangled trunnion ends 20 journaled in lateralbores 2| in said sides adjacent to the front end of the cavity 3. Thestabilizer I9 has the apex portion thereof counterweighted, as at 22,and is adapted to be swung into the cavity 3 with its counterweightedend, 22 disposed in the recess 5' against the stop formed by saidrecess.

A U-shaped spring keeper 23 is suitably connected by lateral coil springends 24 with straight terminals 25 thereon to the sides of thestabilizer I9 and to normally assume coplanar relation with respect tosaid stabilizer, and extend forwardly of the stabilizer when the latteris swung into the cavity 3.

In using the described decoy, the anchor cable I is pulled downwardlythrough the bore 1 until the expander I'G is pulled into said bore andthe neck portion 9 of the head and neck part 2' is seated on the seat 8,all as previously described. The anchor cable 10, with the anchor Il,may then be used to anchor the body I in the water. When the body i isplaced in the water, the stabilizer l9 swings, by gravity, intodepending position, as shown in Figure 1., and stabilizes said body 1against rolling laterally and upsetting. When the anchor cable [0, andthe combined head and neck part 2, together with the expander iii, arestored in the storage cavity 3, the stabilizer may be. swung into saidstorage cavity, in the manner already described, and as shown in brokenlines in Figure 1, with the keeper 23 yieldingly bearing against thecoiled anchor cable l0 and the head and neck part 2, as shown in fulllines in Figures 7 and 8. Thus the stored parts are held in the storagecavity 3 -and said parts prevent the stabilizer l9 and the keeper '23from swinging out of said storage cavity. If desired, the bight end ofthe keeper 23 may be curved, as at 26, to frictionally interlock withthe bottom "of the storage cavity 3, as shown by broken lines in Figure1, when said stabilizer swings downwardly. Thus said stabilizer l9yieldingly locks against "swinging out of the perpendicular when thebody is in the water. This provides for stabilizing the body i againstundue pitching.

It is preferable that the body I, together with the combined head andneck part '2, be formed of a suitable buoyant, light weight, inexpensiveplastic.

A suitable bushing 21 may be provided for the bore 1 to take up weartherein, and similar bush-- ings, not shown, for the same purpose forthe bores 2|. I

The foregoing will, it is believed, 'siifii'ce to impart a clearunderstanding 'of our invention without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modificationwithout departing from the inventive concept, and right is hereinreserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What we claim is: J

1. Ina decoy duck, a body having -''a bottom storage cavity therein and"an upper end seat thereon, a combined head and neck part adapted toengage said seat, a cable attachedat e'ne end to said part and slidablyextended through said body for pulling therethrough in one direction toengage said part with said seat and for pulling in the oppositedirection to provide for removal of said part from the seat and storingof said part, together with a section of the cable, in said storagecavity, and means to retain said cable section and part in said cavityand swingab'le into the cavity to confine said cable section and saidpart between said means and the bottom of said cavity, said meanscomprising a stabilizer for the body swingable out of said cavity intostabilizing position to permit said cable section and said part to bestored in said cavity, and a resilient keeper on said stabilizer forbearing against said part when stored in said cavity to yieldinglyprevent the stabilizer from being swung out of said cavity.

'2. In a decoy duck, a body having a vertical through front end boretherein, a combined separate head and neck part adapted to seat on saidbody in upright position, an anchor cable attached at one end to saidpart and slidably extended through said bore .for pulling there-'through to seat said part on said body, and an expander on said cablefor pulling into said bore when said part is seated, and 'f-rictionallyfitting in the bore to maintain said part seated.

3. In a decoy duck, a body having a vertical through front end boretherein, a combined separate head and neck part adapted to seat on saidbody in upright position, an anchor cable attached at one end to saidpart and slidably extended through said bore for pulling therethrough toseat said part on said body, and an expander on said cable for pullinginto said bore when said part is seated, and frictionally fitting in thebore to maintain said part seated, said cable having an anchor on theother end thereof.

JOHN H. MILLS. ROBERT L. TANNER, JR.

REFER'ENCES CITED The folloWing references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,486,329 G'eorge Mar. 11, 19241,923,442 Kilgore Aug. 22, 1933 2,037,052 Wittman Apr. 12, 1936

